Hyriidae is a

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

of pearly freshwater mussels, aquatic

bivalve Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bival ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

s in the order Unionida. This family is native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. Like all members of that order, they go through a

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

l stage that is parasitic on fish (see glochidium). The classification recognized by Banarescu (1995) uses three subfamilies. This family contains eighteen

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

Subfamilies and genera

Hyriinae

Genera within the subfamily Hyriinae, from South America, include: * '' Paxyodon'' * '' Castalina'' * '' Chevronaias'' ; Tribe Castaliini * ''

Castalia Castalia ( grc, Κασταλία), in Greek mythology, was a naiad-nymph, a daughter of Achelous who inhabited the Castalian spring in Delphi. In older traditions, Castalian spring already existed by the time Apollo came to Delphi searching f ...

'' * '' Castaliella'' * '' Callonaia'' ; Tribe Hyriini * '' Prisodon'' * '' Triplodon'' ; Tribe Rhipidodontini * ''

Diplodon ''Diplodon'' is a genus of freshwater pearly mussel, an aquatic bivalve in the Hyriidae family. The genus includes the following species: * '' Diplodon chilensis'' * '' Diplodon dunkerianus'' * '' Diplodon expansus'' * '' Diplodon fontaineanu ...

Cucumerunioninae

Genera within the subfamily Cucumerunioninae, from Australasia, include: * '' Echyridella'' * ''

Cucumerunio ''Cucumerunio'' is a genus of bivalves belonging to the family Hyriidae. The species of this genus are found in Australia. Species: *'' Cucumerunio novaehollandiae'' *''Cucumerunio websteri ''Cucumerunio websteri'' is a species of freshwat ...

'' * ''

Hyridella ''Hyridella'' is a genus of bivalves belonging to the family Hyriidae Hyriidae is a taxonomic family of pearly freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve molluscs in the order Unionida. This family is native to South America, Australia, New Zeal ...

'' * '' Virgus''

Velesunioninae

Genera within the subfamily Velesunioninae, from

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

, include: * '' Alathyria'' **''Alathyria jacksoni'', the river mussel (or black river mussel) occurs in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. * '' Haasodonta'' * '' Lortiella'' * '' Microdonta'' * '' Velesunio'' * '' Westralunio''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3014510 Bivalve families Taxa named by William John Swainson